While driving down the highway, a kindly biker pulled alongside of me and informed me that my tail/brake lights were not working- only the top bar lit up. Came home and checked fuses and bulbs in tail light assembly. Two bulbs were "dark looking", but filaments were intact. No luck there. Then researched problem on the internet. Found that there was a recall due to a malfunctioning stoplight switch. Called Kia Consumer service and learned that previous owner had taken care of it in 2009. Went to Auto Zone, purchased a new switch and installed it. Did not solve the problem. Back to the internet! Came across a forum and found some VERY interesting information! Before the brake lights issue, the ESC off light would come on when it wanted to. Common problem, it seems. I also lost my cruise control several months ago. Not a huge issue for me and did not affect safety functions of the vehicle, so I "let it be". The person on the forum said he solved ALL of those problems by changing the bulbs in the tail lights! I did that and I'LL BE DAMNED IT WORKED!! In my opinion, the fact that a LIGHT BULB governs ALL of that is some bullshit engineering.... So, blessings to the "change the light bulbs Guy"! All told, the REAL fix cost $11.00 for 4 light bulbs. I can only imagine what a dealership would have "done" or charged me to fix this problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
While driving down the highway, a kindly biker pulled alongside of me and informed me that my tail/brake lights were not working- only the top bar lit up. Came home and checked fuses and bulbs in tail light assembly. Two bulbs were "dark looking", but filaments were intact. No luck there. Then researched problem on the internet. Found that there was a recall due to a malfunctioning stoplight switch. Called Kia Consumer service and learned that previous owner had taken care of it in 2009. Went to Auto Zone, purchased a new switch and installed it. Did not solve the problem. Back to the internet! Came across a forum and found some VERY interesting information! Before the brake lights issue, the ESC off light would come on when it wanted to. Common problem, it seems. I also lost my cruise control several months ago. Not a huge issue for me and did not affect safety functions of the vehicle, so I "let it be". The person on the forum said he solved ALL of those problems by changing the bulbs in the tail lights! I did that and I'LL BE DAMNED IT WORKED!! In my opinion, the fact that a LIGHT BULB governs ALL of that is some bullshit engineering.... So, blessings to the "change the light bulbs Guy"! All told, the REAL fix cost $11.00 for 4 light bulbs. I can only imagine what a dealership would have "done" or charged me to fix this problem.
- Karen K., Pahrump, NV, US